If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Sentence Construction?

Hi All,

First post to the forum so hi to everyone.

My son is home schooled by my wife due to an illness he suffered back in 2004. I wont go into too much detail but his speech has been effected and I'd like some advice on sentence construction. His basic issue is that he finds it difficult to construct a sentence and often uses the incorrect words or goes into too much detail.

I've looked around for a book but cannot locate anything which would help. I'd almost like a huge list of everyday sentences for him to practice.

Re: Sentence Construction?

How old is he? When you talk about sentence construction, are there patterns behind what he is doing- does he regularly do the same thing? When learning languages, children often over-apply rules and come out with the wrong form, and then modify the rule to account for the new information. A commonly quoted example is a child saying 'bringed' because they have learned the -ed for the past but not mastered irregular verbs- when they get feedback and learn, then they learn not to add -ed to all verbs. If you could post some examples, it would be easier to be less vague. (By rules, I mean the rules that native speakers acquire subconsciously and not the rules found in grammar books, etc.)

By the way, with your list of sentences idea, it is worth bearing in mind that in isolation they could help with basic word order but would lack the cohesion and devices required for texts.

Re: Sentence Construction?

How old is he? When you talk about sentence construction, are there patterns behind what he is doing- does he regularly do the same thing? When learning languages, children often over-apply rules and come out with the wrong form, and then modify the rule to account for the new information. A commonly quoted example is a child saying 'bringed' because they have learned the -ed for the past but not mastered irregular verbs- when they get feedback and learn, then they learn not to add -ed to all verbs. If you could post some examples, it would be easier to be less vague. (By rules, I mean the rules that native speakers acquire subconsciously and not the rules found in grammar books, etc.)

By the way, with your list of sentences idea, it is worth bearing in mind that in isolation they could help with basic word order but would lack the cohesion and devices required for texts.